PENTICTON BC – Jett Alexander bounced back in a big way, making 31 saves to give the Prince George Spruce Kings a 5-3 victory over the Interior leading Penticton Vees.
In the opening period, it was the Vees who had a lot of offensive zone time; however, Prince George did a near perfect job weathering the storm, minimizing Grade A chances. At 4:11, a Nick Bochen point shot got re-directed by Carter Cochrane that found its way past goaltender Carl Stankowski to give the Spruce Kings a 1-0 lead. The Vees supplied some more pressure, and Jett Alexander made some big stops. A notable stop was on a Lukas Sillinger breakaway that Alexander was able to keep out. The Spruce Kings took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room after the opening twenty minutes.
In the second period, the Vees were buzzing in the offensive zone and finally got rewarded as Danny Weight got a beautiful feed from Evan McIntyre to tie the hockey game at one. The Weight tally came at 7:28. It was then at 14:37 where Tom Richter received a pass in transition from Ryan McAllsiter, Richter fired it off the low pad of Stankowski and the rebound went right to the tape of Wil Kushniryk who made zero mistake and deposited the puck top corner to regain the Spruce Kings lead. The Spruce Kings were up 2-1 after forty minutes.
In the final frame, it was a goal filled period. It took PG just 1:38 into the period to add to their lead. Wil Kushniryk picked the pocket of a Vees defender behind the net and fed it in front to Ryan McAllister who fired it by Stankowski to make it a 3-1 Spruce Kings lead. 26 seconds later, it was Tyler Ho who tipped in a shot to cut into the PG lead making it 3-2. A few moments later, it was Vees captain David Silye who fired the puck past Alexander in the slot to even things up at three. Penticton was able to generate some chances, but Alexander continued to shut the door and kept the game tied. At 14:19 of the third, there was a mad scramble in front of the Vees goal, and it was captain Nolan Welsh who was able to whack the puck home and give the Spruce Kings a 4-3 lead. Welsh would eventually add another goal in the final minute and a half firing the puck in the empty net just outside of the blue line to give the Spruce Kings a 5-3 win.
Goaltender Jett Alexander made 31 saves in the winning effort and says this is a huge confidence booster ahead of a 5 game homestand beginning Sunday, “We ended the trip the right way against a great team and one of the best in the league” said Alexander. “I thought our effort was really good, we were way better defensively, we did a great job not getting guys behind us. We earned this one, and it makes the bus ride home that much better”.
Next up for the Spruce Kings is a five game homestand beginning Sunday afternoon at the RMCA against the Powell River Kings. That one is slated for a 3:00 PM puck drop. You can catch all of the action on HockeyTV or on Mixlr. Pre-game will be at 2:45 with play by play at 3.
3 STARS
- Jett Alexander (31 Saves) (PG)
- Will Kushniryk ( 1 G 1 A ) (PG)
- Tyler Ho (1 G 1 A) (PEN)
FORTIS ENERGY PLAYER OF THE GAME : Colten Kalezic ( 1 A ) (PEN)
